Debrecen4U
June 23, 2025
The University of Debrecen has become co-president of an important network
Next year, the University Network For Research Collaboration: “A Belt and Road Science and Technology Initiative” (IUNRC) will hold its annual presidential roundtable forum at the University of Debrecen – this was decided at this year’s meeting of the board in China. At the event held in Chengdu, it was also decided that the University of Debrecen will fulfill the co-presidential duties in the next 2-year cycle.
Representatives of almost twenty universities from the partner countries of the “A Belt, and Road Science and Technology Initiative” (IUNRC) participated in this year’s Presidential Roundtable Forum on June 12 in Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The University of Debrecen was represented by Vice-Rector General Károly Pető.
The university leaders discussed strategies to deepen cooperation and presented the recent achievements of the working groups in the spirit of the mission to promote sustainable development globally.
The network, which was established in 2023 with 12 founding members worldwide, focuses on promoting scientific knowledge transfer, technological innovations, and research collaborations between universities in nine priority areas: Big Data, sustainable cities, industry-innovation-infrastructure, clean water and public health, sustainable and smart agriculture, climate change-planet protection, renewable and green energy, responsible production and consumption, and digital transformation and education.
The University Research Collaboration Network, “A Belt and Road Science and Technology Initiative” currently has 19 members from more than 10 countries around the world.
Sichuan University, Hunan University, Bandung Institute of Technology, and Tashkent Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering joined this year’s roundtable forum.
One of the most important moments of the event held in Chengdu was the official launch of the network’s exchange and cooperation programme. As part of this, an innovation fund is planned to be established, to which Chongqing University will contribute five million yuan (almost $700,000) annually. The fund will support research projects that are in line with the main needs for sustainable development in the member universities’ countries.
The meeting decided that the University of Debrecen would assume the co-chairmanship duties between 2025 and 2027, and the board overwhelmingly supported holding next year’s presidential roundtable forum at the University of Debrecen. The event is scheduled to be held in the spring of 2026.
Source:dehir.hu |Photo credit:Debrecen városa (FB)
